A Selfish Sacrifice
by LovelySheree
Summary: It was a simple mission, Sakura and Naruto had been enjoying themselves and laughing about the strangest things. It was a perfect day for the Haruno medic-nin, but in one minute, everything changed to a nightmare. When the bomb goes off, Sakura finds herself at her teammate's side, his life slipping away. (Naruto's death! NaruSaku! Short one-shot!)


**So this is a one-shot. Normally people don't review one-shots… and normally I'd put this in my one-shot collection, but it didn't seem to fit. Anywho, I hope you enjoy and please review! It means more than I can say when you guys review!**

**Enjoy…**

They had gone on a mission. Naruto and herself. It was more of a day off then a mission though, they just needed to get a message over to a near-by village. The sun was out, peeking behind an occasional cloud of two, there was a gentle breeze the flew from the west and over their heads to the east. An absolutely picture perfect day. Sakura remembered laughing with her blond-headed companion though she didn't remember what was so funny, though she was sure it was amusing, whatever it was.

Naruto looked up at her, a playful sparkle in his eyes. He had asked to go sit under an old sycamore tree that grew next to the beaten dirt path they followed. She followed him and sat, leaning against the trunk of the large and old tree. The clouds that splotched the sky seemed to whisper gently to the earth that she sat on. Naruto, who had sat next to her, was relaxing and gazing out into the blue, endless sky.

He said something that had made her laugh, she wished from the bottom of her heart she could remember. But it seemed as if her entire world was shut off in less then a minute.

A bomb.

A simple paper bomb.

Someone had set a trap and they had fallen right into it. When the bomb went off, there was absolutely no time to react. The last thing Sakura remembers was his smile… he was still smiling after he took the blow.

He had jumped atop of her and hovered over her as the heat licked his back and burned his clothes. Taking the hits of the debris, he fell. Right in front of her.

Her picture perfect day… had turned into her worst nightmare.

She could see his chest rising and hope flared into her chest. "Naruto, stay with me!" she yelled. What had happened? Why had it all happened so fast? Why the hell did he have to be so damn selfish!?

Yes, Sakura considered sacrifice selfish. Unlike many believe, when someone- someone very close to you- decides to take the blow and let _you _watch them die… isn't that selfish? Sakura watched in horror as she couldn't do anything to keep his slowing heart beating. "Naruto…" she whispered, leaning close to his face and looking over his features. Something she had done many times before.

Naruto's eyes opened groggily, and again… the first thing Sakura saw… was a smile. That stupid grin that he always pulled to make everything okay. But _nothing _was okay right now, didn't he understand that his heart was stopping!?

"B-bak-a," Sakura choked out, watching his eyes sadden a bit.

"Sakura-chan…" he whispered, looking into her emerald depths. "Sakura… you don't know… how much you mean to me," he pulled off a stupid grin again, "I know that you think s… sacrifice… is selfish but… but I would die along side you if you ever died and…" he let a weak chuckle out, "I think… I think Tsunade-baa-chan will kill me if I ca…came back…ck… with you dead," his eye lids fell, and Sakura knew he was fading. But something told her he wasn't dead yet.

She let the tears fall to his ash covered face, her own leg had dealt some damage and she wasn't sure if she could feel it any longer, but that didn't matter to her right now. "Naruto…" she whispered again, "I… You… don't go," she opened her eyes and saw that his had opened again and were looking intently at her, "Please," she begged, "Don't go, don't leave me."

Naruto smiled, this time it was an actual smile. One she didn't see too often and doubted many people had, "Sakura…" he started, finding the strength to reach up and touch her face, "I know you know this, and I know you'd probably beat the sh..it out-out of me if I wasn't in this state when I say-say this but…" she closed his eyes and gave a loving and peaceful smile, "I love you," he opened his eyes again to see fresh tears in her eyes, "I didn't think I'd see you c-cry when I said that-mmmgghnnmmm" Naruto however, was interrupted by Sakura leaning down and kissing him.

She didn't expect her body to move so fast and hasty, as if it couldn't wait, but she knew there was no denying it… she had loved the damn baka from day one. And she was too blind to see it.

She broke the gesture and let her forehead fall to his, "I'm so sorry, Naruto… that I never saw you," she took a deep breath, "And I love you too…" tears fell onto the fading Uzumaki's face. "I love you too," she repeated.

She heard a satisfied sigh and felt his skin grow colder than it ever had been. She didn't cry, she didn't move, she didn't register anything. She just laid there, at her friend's, and possibly more, side.

"B…B-bak-ka," she whimpered, letting all her emotions go in one word.

She felt a warm presence wrap around her body and she couldn't help but lean into the embrace, but when she looked behind her, nothing was there but dull flames. When it left her, she felt utterly cold… something would be missing from her forever. Something she couldn't ever replace…

Her eyes closed as she felt fatigue hit, the last memory of her blond teammate fresh in her head, and his idiotic grin plastered on his face.

_"Sakura-chan, I love you,"_

_"I love you too…"_

**Done! Please review! I want to know what you thought!**

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!**

**-LovelySheree**


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